The Salem Witch Trials Yugioh style
by death by storm
Summary: In the town of Salem there is one sport that goes above all. Witch hunting. How are two whitehaired bishies with 'special talent' going to survive?
1. Chapter 1

The Salem Witch trials Yugioh style.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or any of its characters. (But I will once my lawsuit goes through!) **laughs maniacally**. So basically right now I am _really_ stuck on Harry Potter and the Triwizard tournament but I will have the chappie up in a few days. But for now please enjoy this weird random idea I had!

Alex: **sweatdrop**

Deathbystorm: what that lawsuit is perfectly legal.

Alex: well since she obviously isn't going to say it, on with the fic!

**Chapter 1**

"Anzu, I hereby sentence you to death by the gallows!" the judge announced. Another victory for the righteous of the Lord. It was the sixteen hundreds and witch hunting had reached an all time high. In fact, in the last month, they had hung nearly a dozen of the foul beings.

Ryou watched from the crowd of people who came out to watch this event. It wasn't like he had a choice. All in the town of Salem were forced to watch. If you avoided this so-called sacred duty, you yourself would be tried as a witch and hung in the gallows. He saw the young girl being dragged up to the altar with her hands bound. Sure no one liked her but that wasn't a reason to be falsely accused and hung. The executioner forced her head through the noose and tightened it. Then he smirked and stepped back giving his partner the go-ahead to banish another of the evil spawn of Satan back down to the fiery depths of hell.

The man at the bottom let go of the rope and the platform dropped. The girl let out a piercing scream as she felt her only support fall out from underneath her. She fell and the rope did its grisly work. Everyone cheered. The crowd watched in fascination as her body kicked and struggled like a hooked fish before giving in to death.

Ryou left as soon as possible in disgust. He entered the dusty little apothecary shop that he sold medicine in. How could they be so full of hatred? The white haired teenager dropped his coat in the first available place and sighed. His mother and father had died in a terrible accident two years ago leaving him the entire shop to run by himself. He made just enough to get by on. Nothing more.

The door opened behind him and a well-known customer walked in. "Hello Mr. Straight, how may I help you today?" the chocolate-eyed teenager asked.

"Ah Ryou, you see my daughter Mary has the bad air fever (1). I was hoping that you could help us,"

"I have just what you need," he replied. "It will take me a few moments if you would be so kind as to wait." The young owner went to the back of the store and took down a few jars. He opened them and took out various ingredients. He grabbed his grinding dish and ground all the different herbs together. He then put it all in a small fold of cloth. "Give half of this to Mary tonight and the other half tomorrow. She will be just fine."

"You're a god send," the man said to him with a relieved smile on his face. "What would this town do without you Ryou I have no clue." Mr. Straight handed him what was owed and left the shop.

The moment the door closed, the white-haired teen laughed softly. "'You're a godsend Ryou'" he mimicked. "Yeah right. I don't think that they would say the same if they knew what I was. I don't know why I bother with them or why they haven't caught on yet." He chuckled again and placed the jars back where they belonged before getting ready to go out again. After all, he needed some food to eat for supper.

He took off in the general direction of the bakery to get some bread.

"Hello there Ryou," the woman at the counter said quietly. "I trust you are doing well."

"I'm doing fine thankyou Mai," the teenager replied.

"The usual then Ryou?" she asked.

"Yes please," he said still keeping up the innocent act and handed her some of the money that Mr. Straight paid him with.

"Well here you go love," she said and handed him the loaf of bread.

"Thanks a bunch Mai," he said eagerly and ran out.

Ryou sighed as he let the childish look fade from his face and headed up the street towards home. He frowned as thunder rolled overhead. "Looks like it's going to rain," he murmured to no one in particular. "Hard." He added as a bolt of lightning and an even more insistent crash of thunder boomed. Not too far away, the slamming of doors and windows became apparent as everyone prepared themselves for the dark angry weather that was rolling in. The white-haired teen ran down the street with the loaf of bread clutched tightly in his arms.

He ran into the little apothecary that he lived in and slammed the door. Ryou padlocked it for good measure as such storms were very fierce and could blast your door back open. He pulled out some butter that was conceiled behind some herbal remedy jars lit a candle so that he could actually see what he was doing. Slowly, he ate his meagre supper and then blew out the candle. Ryou went to the back of the store where his neatly made cot was and collapsed facedown on it. Despite the storm, he was dead out in seconds.

An hour later, Ryou's eyes snapped open. He moaned slightly as he sat up. What in Ra's name had woken him up at such an ungodly hour? Then he heard it coming from outside.

"Witch! Witch! You're a witch!"

"Not again," he groaned and grabbed his cloak.

Ryou unlocked the door and ran outside. Off in the distance he could see an orange glow. Torches! _Was the whole town really that obsessed with witch-hunting? _He thought exasperately. _I can't even get a decent night of sleep anymore._

Smack! Ryou fell to the ground and someone landed on top of him.

"What the hell?" a voice said. Ryou felt the person get off of him. The white haired teen stood up too and saw what appeared to be his identical twin covered in blood. "You look just like me." With that, said lookalike collapsed unconscious.

(1) Years ago, Malaria was thought to be caused by bad air. Basically, I was just adding a little effect.

Deathbystorm: Well what do ya think? Was it horrible? Awesome?

Alex: Press the pretty purple button and give us a shout.


	2. no title

_Here it is at last! I was going to update yesterday but my computer crashed. Chapter 2! Thanks to all my reviewers! Thank you for the praise! I love you! _

Alex: **hands Deathbystorm stack of reviews**

Deathbystorm: I believe that it is time to answer reviews!

To Scorpia250: Well you'll have to read and see! But I am introducing Yugi as a miner character in this chappie. 

**To Ryou Verua: **I'm very sorry about the suspense. I just couldn't resist doing something like that.

**To Mistress of Muses: **Witch trial settings have always been a passion of mine too. It can be so hard to find them. As for the pairing, well I have set a pairing but you don't get to know it yet because, well, I like keeping you in suspense. **jumps up and down**

Disclaimer: Waaahh! I lost my lawsuit! TT

Alex: **sweatdrop** Well… on with the fic!

Chapter 2

Ryou attempted to lift his unconscious twin to no avail. "Dammit," he muttered in frustration. He glanced around quickly to make sure that no one was near enough to see through the pounding sleet. The witch extended a hand over the other teen, closed his eyes and concentrated. His hand briefly glowed blue as he reached over and touched the other's chest. Soundlessly, the unconscious teen started to drift suspended in mid-air. Ryou took off down the darkest alley with the other teen drifting along peacefully behind him.

Ryou feet splashed water from the puddles that the rain was still forming. He had to get home quickly as it wouldn't be long before the mob would come his way.

"Ryou!" yelled a voice from not that far away.

The witch jumped and swiftly did the counter charm for the floating spell that he had cast on the stranger. The white-haired teen winced as his counterpart fell to the wet ground with a loud thump.

"Who's there?" he asked softly.

"It's Yugi. The rain's really coming down eh Ryou? We're going to be flooded at this rate. What do you have there?" the amethyst-eyed teen asked.

"Ummm. Nothing," the witch said nervously.

"Seriously Ryou, you are an even worse liar than I am," Yugi said. "Now what are you hiding behind your back?"

"Fine," he grumbled. The white-haired teen stepped aside revealling the unconscious person on the ground.

Yugi bent over to get a better look at him. "Wow. He looks just like you. But it's just not you to take on a charity case."

"I know but-," Ryou ran out of words to say. "Look can we just talk about this another time? Right now I have to get him home.

"Here let me help you," the other teen said quietly. Ryou walked over to the stranger and slipped his hands underneath the guy's arms. Yugi grabbed his legs. "Ok then. One, two, three and heave," the amethyst-eyed teen said. They lifted with all their strength. Surprisingly, he wasn't all that heavy and between the two friends they managed to carry him back to Ryou's shop which was only one street over.

The witch motioned for Yugi to gently lower the half of Ryou's unconscious twin on the ground so that he could unlock the door.

After fiddling for a few minutes, the door swung open with a loud creak. He motioned his friend to help him carry the charity case inside. The witch kicked the door shut behind them. "Let's place him on my bed," Ryou said quietly. They took him over to the bed and lifted him onto it. "I'd just like to say thanks for all your help Yugi,"

"Yeah I'll see you tomorrow okay?" the amethyst eyed teen said and turned to leave. Someone knocked at the door.

Ryou went to answer it. "Hello?"

"Ryou! Where have you been? You have to help us chase down the witch!" Mai said angrily.

Yugi peeked out the door beside his friend. "We were just about to join everyone. I just had to kick Ryou out of bed."

Mai smiled. "Well come on then let's go before the mob leaves us behind." She pulled the two friends out the door. Ryou made sure to pull it shut behind him.

"It seems like I won't be able to get any sleep tonight," the witch sighed. Yugi flashed him a sympathetic look as they were dragged down the street.

As they approached their destination, a chant could be heard: "Get the witch! Get the witch!"

Ryou rolled his eyes as they ran down the street. _Morons_ he thought in distaste. _I hope they don't get it in their heads to search my house again._

As it turned out, it didn't occur to the insane townsfolk decided not to search every single house in the city. So the unconscious fugitive was safe for the moment. It was less than an hour until dawn by the time Ryou said his goodbyes to Yugi and headed home. He felt a pang of guilt at the thought that he wasn't able to get away earlier to help his look-a-like.

He opened the door to his shop and slipped into the gloom. Ryou passed his hand over a pale candle that stood out in the darkness. The room lit up with a soft and gentle glow. The witch shook some of the water out of his hair before taking a look at the unconscious stranger. He walked over to the figure on the bed and knelt beside him. Ryou proceeded to feel him all over searching for wounds.

There were no injuries but his forehead was burning hot. _Damn it he has a fever_Ryou thought worriedly before wetting a scrap of cloth with the bucket of water that he kept underneath the bed. The other teen's body immediately seized up with violent tremors.

"Shit," Ryou muttered under his breath as he placed a hand on the burning forehead. The injured teen gave one gigantic shudder before settling in a deeper sleep. The witch leaned back with a sigh of relief. Then, as the night's worries and adventures got the best of him, he fell into a deep sleep with his head resting gently on the bed.

Ryou snapped awake with a knife pressed to his throat. "One move, one move and you're dead," spat the formerly unconscious teen.

So how is it so far? Press the pretty purple button to let me know 'kay? See? Isn't it shiny?


	3. Chapter 3

_Well….I'm back! Sorry for the long wait and cookies to you for being patient. I don't care. Well the time has come to answer the five reviews I got! _

**To AriNekoGoMu: **Thank for the compliment. I hope that you will enjoy my next chappie.

**To Evil Krayon Plushie:** Well…sorry for the wait. I love to leave people hanging, but I hate it when it happens to me too.

To Scorpia250: Thank you for the review. It is safe to say that Yugi doesn't know about Ryou's powers though he might find out in a future chappie! 

**To Mistress of Muses: **Thank you for the review. I hope that you will find this chapter as enjoyable as the ones preceding it.

**To RyouVerua: **I'm very sorry. I just like writing suspenseful fics. Hehe

**Alex:** You have really got to stop doing that. The readers do not like the cliff hangers.

**Deathbystorm:** I'll stop doing cliffies the day that you stop stealing my chocolate!

**Alex:**……I didn't steal your chocolate . . 

**Deathbystorm: **While I am throttling my muse who is also my yami, please enjoy this lovely new chappie.

Disclaimer: Some one up there really hates me 'cause if you lawyers haven't noticed, this is a disclaimer. Now get the hell off my property! **Pulls out machine gun **mwahahahahaha

Chapter 3

Ryou stared calmly into the eyes of the now awake and very pissed off stranger. _Note to self. Next time I take in someone, I must relieve them of weapons first._

"M-my name's Ryou," the witch said putting a tremble in his voice out of sheer habit. "I-if you let me go, I can tell you what happened." Reluctantly, the teenager lowered the knife from Ryou's throat so that he could breath more easily. Then the young white-haired teen told him the entire story leaving out the fact that he was a witch.

"So I think that you should at the very least lie low here for a few days so that they don't come after you again," Ryou concluded with a sigh. "By the way, what the hell did you do to get the villagers so convinced that you were a witch?"

"I think I stole something of theirs. My name's Bakura by the way and thieving is my profession," the theif said with a seductive smile.

"A theif? Well that would certainly explain their desire to burn you at the stake," Ryou said sounding mildly amused. Bakura stared at him. "If they don't see what happened their first explanation is that you are a witch. Actually, around here, you can be accused for being evil just for pissing off a neighbor. So you shouldn't really be surprised about all that." There was a knock at the door. "Quick! Hide!" Ryou hissed unintentionally casting a spell that rendered Bakura invisible.

The thief frowned as his host's hand seemed to glow blue for a moment. It faded so fast that he could have sworn that it was a trick of the light. Bakura shrugged and then froze realizing that there was really no where to hide.

"Hi Yugi!" Ryou said delightedly.

"Is he awake yet?" the amethyst-eyed teen asked.

The witch hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Yeah. He is. You can go back and meet him if you want to."

Bakura became visible just before Yugi turned around. "Hi! I'm Yugi. What's your name?"

"Mark," Bakura said smirking dangerously.

The amethyst-eyed teen backed up slightly. "Uuhhh Ryou? Are you sure that he's not…you know…dangerous or something?"

"Sure he is dangerous but everyone is dangerous," the witch answered.

"You know what I mean," Yugi muttered.

Ryou sighed. "I won't allow him to hurt you," he said.

"Hey! Since when do you have control over me?" Bakura demanded.

"Mark, you owe me a life debt. The only way that you can pay it off is by not harming Yugi or any of my other friends," the witch said quietly having caught on to Bakura's game. _What the hell does Bakura think he's doing? I'll ask him later._

The thief glared at him and rolled his eyes. "Fine. I won't touch your friends," he muttered. Bakura, of course, hated owing anybody anything. He found it very degrading. Ryou and Yugi chatted lightly for a few minutes before the amethyst-eyed boy had to go.

"I've got to go guys. I'm supposed to be out shopping for food, he said.

"Bye Yugi," Ryou said. Bakura didn't say anything having dropped out of the conversation much earlier. The short teen exited the store.

Before Ryou could give the thief heck for terrorizing his friend and lying about his name, there was a knock at the door. "It's so busy this morning," he muttered before opening the door.

There were two townsfolk at the door step. "Mai, and Shizuka," the witch said in shock. "What a pleasant surprise. What would you be needing? Who's sick?"

"We know you're hiding the witch, Ryou," Shizuka said as the two pushed their way into the shop. "Ah! There he is," she said.

"Uh you guys, he isn't a witch," Ryou said quietly. "He's just somebody who needed a good meal and a roof over his head for the night."

"Ryou. I can't believe it. You came to my bakery every day and I never saw it," Shizuka said sadly.

"You're a witch too," Mai said slowly.

"We'll be back. Mark my words," Shizuka snapped aggressively. "We will be back at nightfall. Don't even try to escape. We're posting two guards outside."

"Wow she sure changed," Ryou muttered dryly. He went to open the door to peek outside. No such luck. As soon as he opened the door, two of the burliest men in the entire town lifted their pitchforks and forced him back inside. The witch slammed the door shut and leaned against it. "Okay. There is no way in hell that we are getting out."

"Well what morons built this place without windows?" Bakura grumbled.

"Hey! That's my parents you are talking about," Ryou grumbled right back glaring at him. Then he relaxed. "Look we have to form a plan to get out of here if we want to survive. We have several hours to formulate one."

"Isn't there any way that I can smuggle a knife?" the thief asked.

"Unfortunately no," the witch replied. "The townspeople may be stupid but there is no way in hell that they are that stupid."

"You never know," Bakura muttered.

"They'll search you before you are even tried."

"Well, isn't there any thing else we can do?"

"I'm afraid not," Ryou replied as calmly as he could. "I believe that this time at least, we are actually going to die."

"We'll figure out a way," Bakura said. "I've been in worse scrapes than this."

"Really?" his host-fellow prisoner asked.

"Well no, but I've always survived up until now," he muttered. "What we need is more time."

"That is something that we have very little of," Ryou said.

Meanwhile, across the village, Yugi paced. Shizuka had come to tell him of his friend's fate only minutes ago. "What can I do to help him?" he murmured desperately as tears streamed down his face. "He's my best friend. I've got to help him. I've just got to. I'm going for a walk." The amethyst-eyed teen left his house and took off into the woods behind it for a little while.

_It's been an hour and I've decided to be present at my friends trial and execution. It's the least that I can do for him_, the amethyst eyed teen thought as tears ran down his face. As he walked on, there came the sound of racing feet through the bushes. Yugi turned just as Ryou and Bakura broke through the bushes.

**Deathbystorm:** **is being chased by a horde of angry reviewers with pitchforks.** AAAAaaahhhh! Please don't kill me! I'm to chocolate addicted to die.

**Alex:** **wakes up**. Well I did tell her what would happen if she did such a thing again but now she must face the consequences. Ah well another chapter another opportunity for our loving readers to review so please do so.


	4. Chapter 4

Deathbystorm: Well I'm back again with a new chapter. I know that you have all been waiting for a new chapter 

**Audience: cricketcricket.**

**Alex: **See? I told you that waiting a while was a bad idea.

**Deathbystorm: **Whatever and it is time for reviews!

**Alex: pulls out stack of reviews from nowhere.**

**To RyouVerua: **Muwhahaha…I will never get sick of doing that. Anyway, thanks a bunch for the review. I appreciate it a lot.

**AriNekoGoMu: **Thanks a million for the review. The compliment that you gave me was the best one I have ever received.

**Tsuki-san16:** Thanks for the cheer on killing Anzu. It really means a lot to here somebody to say that.

**Haloof Chaos:** Sorry about the chocolate thingie. I-I just really like chocolate. I think I might have a problem… Moving on. Thanks for the review.

Chapter 4 

"You escaped?" Yugi gasped as his friends skidded to a halt in front of him in the gathering darkness. _Well I wouldn't exactly call Mark a friend…_

"No time to talk," Ryou panted. "We've got to go. If you are caught talking to us, they'll accuse you too. Just do me a favor and don't tell them that we passed this way."

"Too late," Bakura muttered as the some of the townsfolk crashed through the trees behind them. "Looks like you'll have to come with us."

"No! I-" Yugi was cut off as the pursuers spotted them.

"There they are! Who's with them?" one of the hunters called.

"I don't believe it! Yugi's with them! He must be under the spell of the witches," Mai yelled.

"Unless he is a witch also!" the first pursuer said panting as he lead the group towards them. This seemed to appeal to the general crowd more as a huge roar went up among the townsfolk and they brandished their pitchforks while they ran.

"RUN!" Ryou yelled and they all ran for their lives. The townsfolk all gave a shout and pressed on even faster. The friends ran as hard as they could and after a few hundred metres, the sounds of pursuit began to fade. None the less, the three ran on for another twenty minutes before stopping to catch their breaths.

"I'm so sorry that we got you into this Yugi," the witch gasped.

"It's okay. I really needed to leave anyway. At the rate they're going, everyone withing twenty kilometres will be hung," the amethyst-eyed teen replied also out of breath.

"It's been long enough," Bakura said. "We need to keep moving. They can't catch up with us,"

Wearily, the other two nodded and they set off at a slightly slower pace than they were travelling before.

It was several hours before they came to a halt again. "It will take them a few days to get the word out about us," Ryou said. "All we have to do is travel faster than that."

"And that won't be that easy," Yugi muttered in response just as the sun set.

"I think that they have probably given up for the night," Bakura said. "It would still be risky to light a fire though."

"Uh guys? I don't think we realized this when we ran off but what exactly are we going to do for food?" the amethyst eyed teen asked.

"Thanks for reminding me," the witch groaned.

"We should sleep in two hour shifts," the thief said. _What townies. I wonder if I should just leave and let the those two face their fate._ "I'll go for the first one and then we'll go from there."

"That's nice," Yugi yawned and went over to the nearest tree. He curled up underneath it and was asleep before the other two could even react.

"Oookay then," Ryou said. "It looks like I'm up for second shift. Don't fall asleep."

"As if," Bakura snorted at him in disgust. The witch just smirked at him before rolling over and falling asleep.

Bakura sat there in the darkness. He stood up and paced periodically around the clearing to avoid falling asleep. _I should just ditch them,_ he thought in disgust. _Look at how trusting they are. What would happen if I were to leave. _He paused in his pacing to look at the sleeping form of Ryou. The thief's heart gave a funny wrench as he looked down on the angelic sleeping form. _Angelic?_ Bakura shook his head as to rid himself of such thoughts. _Where the hell are my thoughts going? I must be more tired than I think._

He force himself to stop staring at the sleeping boy and resumed pacing around the clearing until it was time for Ryou to relieve him of watch. _If they're stupid enough to trust me, then I guess it wouldn't hurt to get some sleep. _ Bakura crouched down beside his white-haired look-a-like and roughly shook him

Ryou moaned and curled up into a ball at the rough shaking. "Come on Ryou. It's your turn to take watch," a voice said above him.

The witch opened his eyes and nearly yelled when he saw Bakura's face less than a foot from his. "Took you long enough to wake up," the thief grumbled and went over to a different tree. He lay down and

promptly fell asleep.

Ryou's heart was pounding swiftly and he felt too warm. "And I was having such a wonderful dream…" the white–haired teen trailed off softly into the darkness. He said this more to hear his own voice than anything.

The sun rose a glorious orange colour the next morning. "Come on," Bakura said. "It is important that we make it to the next town before nightfall." He set off at a quick pace. Ryou and Yugi wearily followed him back into the darkness of the forest.

"Could you guys tell me how you escaped?" Yugi asked. "Just you know to pass the time," he added when he saw the looks on his friends' faces.

"Sure Yugi. Well you know they locked us in my shop right? This is what we did…….

**Flashback**

"Well she sure changed," Ryou said dryly. He opened the door to peek outside. No such luck. As soon as he opened the door, two of the burliest men in town lifted their pitchforks and forced him back inside. The witch slammed the door shut and leaned against it. "Okay there is no way in hell that we are getting out."

"Well what morons built this place without windows?" Bakura grumbled.

"Hey! That's my parents you are talking about," Ryou grumbled right back glaring at him. Then he relaxed. "Look we have to form a plan to get out of here if we want to survive. We have only a few hours to formulate one."

"Isn't there any way that I can smuggle a knife?" the thief asked.

"Unfortunately no," the witch replied. "The townspeople may be stupid, but there is no way in hell that they are that stupid."

"You never know," Bakura muttered.

"They'll search you before you are even tried."

"Well, isn't there anything else we can do?"

"I'm afraid not," Ryou replied as calmly as he could. "I believe that this time at least, we are actually going to die."

"We'll figure out a way," Bakura said. "I've been in worse scrapes than this."

"Really?" his host/fellow prisoner asked.

"Well….no, but I've always survived up until now," he muttered. "What we need is more time."

(A/n sorry about the line break. Computer's idea)

"That is something that we have very little of at the moment but I may have a plan." Ryou said. "My parents were hung long ago for the same charges that they have accused us. They knew that this might happen to me. So the day they were to die, they told me what to do in case this ever happened to me."

**Later that day (Still a flashback.)**

"Ryou Bakura and Bakura Ryou," the village judge said. "You stand here accused of the following charges: stealing, being helpers of Satan, and resisting capture. How do you plead?"

"Not guilty," Ryou and Bakura replied in unison.

"What does the town have to say to this?" the judge asked.

"We find the defendants guilty of all charges," Mr. Straight said standing up out of the crowd.

"B-but that's not fair," the thief protested. "I'm not a helper of Satan and I didn't steal nor did I resist capture," he finished lying outright about the last two.

"Silence!" the judge roared. "Ryou and Bakura. I hereby sentence you to be hung from the gallows to be served immediately!"

Ryou swallowed hard as his and Bakura's hands and feet were bound. Immediately the townsfolk surged upwards and dragged them to where all the witches in town were hung. _My plan better work,_ he thought. _After all, I can't use magic._

Long ago, Ryou had realized why the townsfolk never hung everyone at once. They prefered to invoke terror in the accused by hanging them one at a time. It was fun to watch the fear in the victim's eyes as his best friend was hung just for sheltering him.

He was dragged up onto the platform first. Now it was up to Bakura to save him. The townsfolk cheered as they forced the witch's head through the noose.

**Bakura's POV**

Behind the platform, Bakura searched for something sharp as he leaned against the structure. Frantically he searched for the portion the stone that he needed. It all depended on the guard being too interested on what was happening up front to worry about if the captive moved around a bit.

Bakura took a deep breath before kicking over the rock that was nearby him with his bound feet. Underneath lay a rusty but still sharp knife and a pouch full of money. Now the thief shifted as quietly as he could over to where the knife lay. He grasped it up in his bound hands and sawed at the bonds frantically. He felt every thread snap as the bonds weakened. Finally the last thread snapped and he leaned over and cut the bonds on his feet.

(A/N sorry line not intentional above here)

Then, he got up and silently went over to the guard. This had to be an instant kill. He couldn't afford the chance that the man might run out and tell the others. The thief thrust the knife as hard as he could into the man's back. He went down with a yell so loud that it could be heard echoing even over the crowd's yelling. They watched in shock as Bakura ran up in onto the platform shoving the man that had just finished fastening the noose around Ryou's neck off the platform and into the crowd. The thief cut his friend down and as the spectators surged forth with a roar cut his bondings also. The two jumped off the back of the platform and ran into the trees.

**End Flashback**

"….And that's where we ran into you," Ryou finished.

"Oh wow," Yugi said.

It was in the early evening that they finally reached the next village. Ryou and Yugi were feeling exhausted and weak from hunger while Bakura couldn't have felt better.

"Now where was that inn…." The thief muttered underneath his breath. "Ah yes…down there."

Abruptly Bakura turned and headed down a dark alley. "It's around here somewhere…" he muttered more to himself than his partners

"An inn?" Yugi asked eagerly.

"An inn for fugitives actually," the thief replied as they headed down the dark back street.

"Will any of them harm us?" Yugi asked worriedly.

"They won't harm you if you don't bother them," Bakura answered. Yugi nodded. "Ah here it is," the thief said with the air of somebody coming home at last.

"But I don't see anything," Yugi said frowning.

"It wouldn't remain a secret if it was right in front of you now would it?" the thief replied and walked purposefully in the direction of what seemed to be an empty parking lot.

"You don't have any idea the number of witches it took to put up this illusion," Bakura said as they passed through the barriers. "Welcome to the Dragon inn everyone," he announced.

Ryou was still gaping like a fish inside at the 'witch' comment and Yugi at the fact that an inn could be hidden in such a fashion as they went inside. There was a teenager at the counter that could have been Yugi's twin for all the similarities that they shared.

"Welcome to the Dragon I-" he cut off suddenly as he spotted Yugi. "Y-Yugi?" he gasped.

Said amethyst-eyed teen gaped at him. "Who are you and how do you know my name?" he asked.

**Alex:** Three guesses on who that is and the first two don't count.

**Deathbystorm:** I'm still not telling! And besides it was _your_ idea to end there.

Well it is pretty obvious who the mystery teenager is…so I'm not going to say anything but review and please tell us what you think. 


	5. secrets revealed

**Deathbystorm **This has got to be the fastest update on record for me

**Alex: **She means that she's sorry for the slip up that she made at the end of the last chapter.

**Deathbystorm:** No I'm not! Stuff happens like that. I was being kicked off the computer and I was dying to get chapter four up to all you loyal readers. Well since I have nothing more to say, here are the responses to the reviews from my loyal readers.

**To yugirules: **Thanks for the positive feedback. I'm glad to know that you are enjoying my story.

**To Kikyo's killer:** When you said that you would be in shock if it weren't Yami, I was sorely tempted to make it someone else but that would have totally destroyed my story line.

**To AriNekoGoMu: **Well needless to say, you guessed right.

**To chibikuro rose-sama: **The parking lot in the last chapter was a slip up. It was actually supposed to be enpty lot. I was just a little tired when I wrote that chappie. No I haven't been reading the crucible. In fact, I've never read it. You're the second person to mention that book

**To RyouVerua: **I agree with you on the subject of Bakura. He really does kick ass. That's why I'll probably have him and Ryou in all of the Yugioh fics I ever write.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own yugioh. **Glares at lawyers hanging over her shoulder.** See? It says so right there.

**Lawyers:** **scream, then turn to dust**

Chapter 5 

"You don't know who I am," the teen at the counter said sadly "You don't remember."

"What do you mean I don't remember?" Yugi asked looking very alarmed.

"If you want me to tell you, I'll come to your room after my shift is over. My name is Yami by the way," the teen up front said. Yugi looked over at the other two.

"Well we should at the very least hear him out," Ryou said with a shrug.

"I'll object," Bakura said. Everyone turned to him.

"Why?" Yugi asked. "I know that we can trust him."

"And how, pray tell do you know?" Bakura sneered at the short teen.

"I just do," the amethyst-eyed teen said.

Ryou frowned as an unfamiliar aura of power flashed around his friend for a second. "Bakura, he can't do any harm to all three of us," he said and then noticed the aura of power swirling around the crimson-eyed teen. It was also of a different flavor than his or Yugi's. It was something that he'd only read about. "You're a stormbringer, aren't you?" Ryou whispered softly.

Yami tore his gaze from Yugi and turned to him in surprise. "How do you know?" he asked in surprise.

"Trade secret," the witch replied. Actually, Ryou was taught how to do it when his family trained him. It was a lot safer to know another's level of power so in that fights could be avoided.

"Could you at least give us our rooms?" Bakura grumbled. "We're holding up the line." The thief gestured behind them. Sure enough, when everybody turned, another group of travellers entered at that very moment.

"You are in room 4." Yami said all business again. "At least one of you has a magic signature right?"

"Yes," Ryou replied before either of the other two could react.

"Very well, here's your key. Your room is down the hall third door on your left," Yugi's look-a-like said. "Enjoy your stay at the Dragon Inn. I'll be up in about an hour," the crimson-eyed teen added in an undertone to Yugi as he handed Ryou the key. The witch nodded and grabbed the thin piece of metal.

"Thank you," Ryou said. With that, he took off in the direction of the rooms that they had rented. His friends hesitated, before following. When Bakura and Yugi caught up with their friend, they were astounded to see the witch whisper something under his breath and the thin piece of metal glow a light blue, before melting into the door. With a soft click, it swung open and candles lit themselves of their own accord giving the room that a warm glow as they entered.

Ryou went across the room and flopped down on one of the two beds with a sigh. The door swung automatically shut behind the other two as they fully entered the room.

"What the hell was that all about?" Bakura hissed angrily.

"I guess you want me to tell you then," the witch said sheepishly. The thief opened his mouth to say something further but was cut off by the smaller white-haired teen before he could even begin to utter the first syllable. "Well I'm a witch obviously for one."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Yugi asked softly as he sat down beside Ryou. Bakura began to pace angrily.

"The reason that I didn't tell you is very simple. What if somebody overheard me? What if somebody forced you to tell? What if you let it slip by accident? Magical law permits us to tell a few people who can be trusted."

"So you don't trust us?" Yugi said looking really hurt.

"It's not that. The times that we are in right now are among the most dangerous there have ever been in magical history. People can accuse anyone without proof. If I had been convicted, you being my best friend, would have been extreme jeopardy. This is not the only reason why. How could I have been sure that the magical community itself would be safe? There is already enough panic without adding more to it."

"Most witches, even though they are allowed to tell trusted people, never do. It is way too risky. My parents were burned at the stake not because they were witches, but because they were different. I have seen way too many people killed in my life that had nothing to do with witchcraft. I was also worried that the both of you would reject me," Ryou murmured.

Bakura left the room and slammed the door. "He just needs time," Yugi said quietly to the witch. "So what exactly can you do?"

"I never focused on one thing, but rather all," Ryou replied. "So I know a number of spells that some do not."

Yami Pov 

As soon as Yami had a chance to take a break, he went off to find his boss, who was also Yugi's grandfather.

"Hey Solomun," he said.

"Yami! Aren't you on shift?" the old man said. "Get back to work!"

"Yugi's back," the crimson-eyed teen said.

"Y..Yugi's back? Are you sure?" his boss asked in amazement.

"Yes he is but he doesn't remember anything," Yami said delightedly. "I haven't seen him in years. I wonder how he's been?"

"I never did agree with what his parents did to him," the old man said sadly.

Bakura pov 

_How the hell could I have not figured it out? _Bakura thought angrily._ I mean the signs were all there. To think I was falling in love with hi- that's not possible. _The thief became even angrier at himself and Ryou just thinking about it. _He saved my life twice. That must be why I have this ridiculous infatuation with him. It is bound to disappear in no time_

**Yami pov**

"I'm going to remind him of what he forgot," Yami said fervently. "I want to renew our friendship but most of all, I want him to remember what he truly is."

"I'll come along with you then," Solomun said.

"NO!" the crimson-eyed teen shouted. "I mean no. You betrayed him too, remember?"

**Deathbystorm:** And that's where I'll leave you for today everyone. I know today's chappie was way boring compared to the others, but it had to be written. There will be a little more action in the next chapter.

**Alex:** And don't forget to review! We look forward to your feedback.


	6. Chapter 6

Deathbystorm: so umm yeah..my chapter didn't exactly go as planned but I still think it's ok. If it isn't, please don't hesitate to blame my muse and yami, Alex. 

**Alex: **Any way….

**Deathbystorm:** We need to respond to reviews now I believe **pulls out stack of reviews from nowhere**

To Ryou Verua: I agree with you on all aforementioned things about Ryou and Bakura. This chapter, unfortunately will only have a little of Yami and Yugi in it. Chapter 7 will be mostly Yami and Yugi. 

**AriNekoGomu:** Thanks for the review

**Yugirules:** well…I can't promise you anything as of yet

**Kikyo's killer: **yep I was. Any way thanks for the review.

**Chibikuro: **yep. I absolutely adore leaving people hanging like that. It is quite amusing.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh. If I did, I would clone Anzu just so that I can continue killing her in creative ways for eternity.

**Alex: **Anyway, on with the ficcy!

Chapter 6 

Yami didn't bother returning to his post after his discussion slash argument with Solomun. Instead, he made his way straight to the room where Yugi and his friends were residing. Yugi opened the door before he could even raise his hand to knock.

"Oh. It's you," the amethyst-eyed teen mumbled.

"Who else would it be?" Yami asked confused.

"Bakura took off after Ryou told him something," Yugi said.

"Oh so you told him that he was a witch?" the crimson-eyed teen asked turning to address Ryou.

The white-haired teen nodded. "It might have been a mistake on my part but you know I just couldn't keep it from either Bakura or Yugi any longer. It just wasn't fair to him. So needless to say he stomped off. If he isn't back soon, I'm going to go looking for him."

"I have a feeling he can take care of himself," Yami said dryly. Ryou reluctantly nodded. "Now I came here to tell you guys Yugi's past. What happened before he moved to Salem."

"But that's not possible," the amethyst-eyed teen protested. "I've lived there all my life."

"Or so you remember," the crimson-eyed teen sighed. "Your family locked your memories away for what they deemed a very good reason."

"And what reason would be that be?" Yugi said with a frown.

"Yugi, you are the most powerful empath the world has ever seen," Yami said.

"W-what?" the short teen stuttered. "That doesn't make any sense. What is an empath?"

"An empath is like mind-reader except they can read as well as enhance people's emotions. Yugi, you can literally bring an army to its knees," the other said.

Ryou just took this in with little surprise. "I knew that there was an aura around you, Yugi. I saw it earlier tonight. I just wasn't so sure…"

Yami nodded. "It was a spell well beyond their abilities," he said sadly. "I'm sorry Yugi but they died a short time afterwards from an exhaustion that couldn't be cured. But soon we will have need of you as well as many others. We must find a counter spell for this as well as your lost memories."

"Who are you?" the amethyst-eyed teen asked.

"A friend from your other life," Yami said.

"Well…" Ryou trailed off. "I'm going to look for Bakura." With that said, the white-haired witch stepped out into the hall. "Bakura?" he called looking up and down to find said hallway deserted. _Ten to one he's at the local bar or out for a walk,_ he thought wryly.

"Where are you?" he asked looking through the Inn to no avail. The witch sighed in exasperation as he headed towards the door. The wind sliced across his face the moment that he stepped outside. "I can't believe him." Ryou sighed stomping off into the cold night.

**Bakura Pov**

Bakura stormed off towards a nearby bar. "Why didn't he tell me?" he asked the wind as it whipped by his face. "More importantly, why do I care that he didn't tell me? I've been acting so weird lately. Maybe a drink will clear my head," The thief entered the pub and sat down on the nearest stool.

"What will it be?" the bartender asked.

"Just a beer," Bakura answered with a sigh.

"That will be one shilling," the man at the counter said quietly as he plunked the wooden mug on the counter. The thief handed him the money and sat back on the stool. He slowly drained the mug.

Ryou pov 

_Okay now if I were Bakura where would I go…_Ryou thought as he looked through the dark alleyways. _Well…let me see…what would he do…._he turned the corner and came face-to-face with a dark pub. _Duh_ he though and went inside.

Sure enough, there was his friend sitting on a barstool with three empty beer mugs scattered around him and about to start on a fourth. "Bakura!" the witch cried out joyfully. Said thief turned around and nearly fell off his stool.

"Oh h-hey Ry…" he said thickly.

"Bakura…how much have you had to drink?" Ryou gasped.

"One mug," came the reply.

"You had much more than one mug," the witch said immediately.

"I-" this time Bakura really did fall off his bar stool. The thief staggered back onto his feet before falling to his knees again.

Ryou sighed and crouched down beside his intoxicated friend. He pulled Bakura's left arm over his shoulder and heaved. It took all his strength just to get the other teen to his feet.

The thief teetered on the balls of his feet before collapsing against the witch all over again. It took all of the white-haired magic user's strength to support them both as they made their way back to the Dragon Inn. After what seemed like forever, they finally reached their room. Ryou smiled as he heard laughter inside. It was a long time since the last he heard Yugi that happy.

He looked back to Bakura. The theif had finally fainted from alcohol poisoning. Ryou rolled his eyes and levitated his friend into the hotel room and onto their bed. _Maybe I should have told him sooner…the thing is..why did he act the way he did? He knows that there is an underground network of witches and other magic-users..so why did he get so mad? Bakura has secrets of his own I'm sure._

"Hey Ryou! You're back! Ummm..what happened to Bakura?" Yugi asked.

"Umm…how do I say this..he went to the local pub and got drunk because I didn't tell him that I was a magic-user earlier," the witch said all in a single breath. _I wonder if he…no that would be impossible.. Still I wish…_

"Ryou you're kinda out of it there…why don't you go to bed? The rest of us are going to go now," the Empath said.

"Do you know how to get your memories back?" the white-haired magic user asked.

"Sort of," Yugi replied.

"Yugi's grandfather and you, Ryou have to help him," Yami said.

**Deathbystorm: **Okay okay I know nothing happened in this chapter really…but something really exciting will happen in the next. I can't wait to write it!

**Alex: **Anyways, please be kind to us and review.


	7. The Unlocking of Memories

**Deathbystorm: **That wasn't a long wait was it? I absolutely love this chappie. It took me a lot longer to write than any of my preceding chapters but..anyways

**Alex: **What she means is review time **hands deathbystorm stack of reviews**

**Deathbystorm: **

**To Kikyo's killer: **Yep. Like I said this chapter is more interesting than the couple preceding it.

**To yugirules: **I don't even know where that idea that Yugi being and empath came from. It just sort of happened.

**To AriNekoGoMu: **I'm glad you think so

**To Lui Nahtzi: **I just don't like Anzu because she gets in the way of my favorite Yugioh pairings and she is always trying to stop Yami from saving the world. She is also way to feminine. There are many other reasons but I fear that it would take all day for me to list them all.

**To Ryou Lover 4325: **Well…I'm continuing please enjoy the next chapter.

**To chibikuro rose-sama: **Cliffie not that bad? I have to remember to improve that…

**To Ryou Verua**: Ah well you can stop waiting now. I finally updated.

Chapter 7 

Early the next morning, before the sun even rose, Ryou and Yugi were woken up by a knock at the door. The witch looked at Yugi and sighed.

"I'll go," he said sighing. He opened the door. "Oh hey Yami."

Yugi was out of bed in a flash when he heard Yami's name. "Hi Yami!" he said cheerily.

"Hey Yugi," the crimson-eyed teen responded. "I have come to collect you guys for the ritual that will be performed to unlock Yugi's memories. That is, if you want the spell undone Yugi."

"Yes, I do," the amethyst-eyed teen said. "As much as my parents thought that what they were doing, I'm just not who I am meant to be. What happens if the spell does someday fail or somebody forcibly removes it? I think that removing it is for the best."

Yami nodded. "We'll go down then. Everything is already set up."

Sure enough, when they got there, the pentagram with the unlit candles that is used only for the most powerful making or in this case unmaking of spells and seals. Ryou looked around the room with wonder. The only time that he had ever seen this was through the various books that his mother and father had made him study from.

"Yugi, please will you go stand on the point of the pentigram that faces west-most. Ryou, you're to the south, Solomun, you're to the east and I'm to the north. The top point will be left empty for it is where the embodiment of the combination of Ryou's, Solomun's and mine will stand. The embodiment of Yugi's magic will stand join ours when it is at last released. After that, the magic will be returned to their respectful owners and we'll close the circle. Everyone understand?" Yami finished.

When all of the members of the circle had nodded, the crimson-eyed teen turned to Ryou. "Could you light each candle as the person's direction and element is called?"

The witch frowned at him. "Why would I do that?" he asked.

"When was the last time you looked at your spellbooks, Ryou?" Yami asked instead.

"Before my parents died," the pale teen responded his eyes still clouded and uncertain. Suddenly they cleared. "I remember now! Every ritual has to have one witch present. I'm surprised it took me that long to remember."

"Knowledge fades with time," Solomun interjected with a sad smile. "As do all other things that we come to hold dear."

"Then let us continue," Yami said he pulled out a knife and pointed it to Yugi. "I call upon the powers of the West. The direction of the element Earth for assistance in this ceremony. All things must be grounded." A flash of light blazed through the room and the candle directly behind the amethyst-eyed teen flared to life.

Next, Yami turned to Solomun with his knife still in hand and pointed in the direction of the old innkeeper. "I call upon the life of the East, the direction of Fire for assistance in this ceremony. All things must have mortality." The candle behind the old man came into existence.

Thirdly I call upon the Wisdom and Knowledge of the South. The element of Water and Ice for assistance in this ceremony," Yami said as he pointed the knife in the direction of Ryou. "With out Wisdom and Knowledge to stay thy hand, the World would fall asunder." The candle behind him lit up.

"Lastly, I call upon the Leadership of the North," Yami said and he pointed the knife at himself. "With out Unity, all other magics would be rendered useless." The candle behind him lit up.

"The circle is now complete," Yami announced. "All we have to do is to chant 'Aie tha ma noo luna thie duam' three times and all the magic will leave our bodies save Yugi's and gather over on the unoccupied point of the pentigram. As soon as the candle is lit, the combined strength of all our magical energies will enter Yugi and break the spell that was placed on his magic."

"Aie tha ma noo Luna thie duam," they said in unison. A sound akin to tinkling bells and laughter could be heard ringing throughout the room "Aie tha ma noo Luna thie duam." This time an unearthly aura surrounded each of the participants with the exception of Yugi.

"AIE THA MA NOO LUNA THIE DUAM!" they all yelled. Two magical auras shot towards the empty point out of Yami and Solomun's bodies.

Ryou's glow did not go to the point. It stayed dancing around the witch's body. The other participants turned to look at him. Just then, the door to the darkened room whipped open with a bang and Bakura ran over to where Ryou stood. Without hesitation, he slipped his arms around Ryou's waist and crushed his lips to the pale teen's petal soft lips. At last, the witch's magic left his body to join the others and the final candle lit.

Before any of them could react to what the thief had just done, their attention was drawn to what was happening to Yugi. The multicoloured energy hit him in the chest and they watched helplessly as with a gasp, the amethyst-eyed teen crumpled to the floor unconscious. Simultaneously, all the candles in the room blew out.

Immediately afterwards, Yugi's body began to emit a strange glow. The teen began to levitate off of where he fell. The magical glow grew brighter and brighter until it became unbearably bright. The sound of laughter and tinkling bells suddenly cut off. The magic was returned to its proper owners and each felt the laughter and joy the power felt upon returning to their veins. The glow slowly faded and there was a gentle thud as Yugi fell to the floor.

The whole room sensed the magic that was now unlocked inside their short friend. Even now Ryou fancied that he heard tinkling bells that was the sound of Yugi's magic. Ryou waited until Yami had closed the circle and picked up the still unconscious Empath before turning to Bakura.

"What was that for?" the pale teen asked softly without any accusation in his tone.

Bakura tightened his arms around Ryou as he readied his answer.

**Deathbystorm: **Not that bad of a cliffie this time though.

**Alex: **Right. Whatever.

**Deathbystorm:** Please excuse my muse. She hasn't had her morning coffee yet. Anyways r&r because the more reviews I get the more I am encouraged to update. ttfn


	8. Chapter 8

**Deathbystorm:** Well I'm finally back. I'm sorry about the no update thing. I had a rather busy holiday.

**Alex:** Yeah right. I know for a fact that all you did was sleep, eat and play on the computer

**Deathbystorm: **shhh they're not supposed to know that.

**Alex: **And that is why I had to tell the readers all the more.

**Deathbystorm: **Moving on…I believe that I have a few reviews to answer.

**To RyouVerua: **Yep I would have to admit that that was particularily typical of Bakura.

**To Kikyo's killer: **Ah well. I'm sorry to say that this fic is rather riddled with cliffies eh?

**To chibikuro: **Yeah it was worse. I think that I have been a little too nice about my cliffies lately.

**To yugirules: **Yeah it's my favorite too.

**To Strgazer: **Thanks. I hope to hear from you in the future!

**Disclaimer: **Lawyers would have more success jumping off a cliff because guess what? I DON'T OWN IT!

Chapter 8 

"I don't know. I think because your magic was trapped…" Bakura trailed off blushing before letting go of the witch.

"Oh," Ryou hid his disappointment very well. "I see…I think I need to go for a walk. I'll see you all later." With that, he practically ran out of the room.

"I guess that I'd better be going," Solomun said. "I have to go collect the payments from my customers before they leave."

"I know what you are thinking," Yami said quietly as he lifted his unconscious friend genty from the floor. "And no. We do not have prejudices against people that are attracted to the same sex. We accept witches so it isn't a very big stretch to accept you."

"I wasn't thinking that," the thief snapped and turned away.

Yami rolled his eyes. "Why don't you search for Ryou?"

Bakura sighed. "What's the point?" He replied. "He'll just reject me anyway."

"I think that you would be a little surprised," came a weak voice from the teen in Yami's arms.

"Yugi! You're awake. How do you feel?" Yami asked urgently.

"How would you know?" the thief sneered.

"The love that you feel for each other is practically rolling off you in waves and it was coming from Ryou too when he was here just before I collapsed," came the reply. "Let me down Yami. I am well enough to walk."

"No you're not," the crimson-eyed youth said.

"Please?" Yugi said.

Yami rolled his eyes. "No," he replied.

"Pretty please?" he said with the uber cute chibi eyes of doom.

The storm bringer relented. "Alright. Fine," he said knowing that he was fighting a losing battle with his short friend. With a sigh of resignation, he gently let down his friend.

The amethyst-eyed teen nodded in thanks as he regained his balance. "I know that you're just worried about me. You should really go look for him," he said addressing Bakura.

The thief threw up his arms in disgust. "Fine! I know when I'm not wanted," he snapped and stomped off. Yugi smirked at Bakura's act behind his retreating back.

Bakura nearly ripped the door from its hinges as he stomped out into the street to go find his white-haired counterpart. "Ryou? Where the hell are you?" he grumbled under his breath. As he walked down the street, he spotted an alleyway to his left. Immediately, he turned down it hoping to find Ryou.

All he found was a mangy cat unfortunately. It meowed in protest as the thief aimed a kick in the sick animal's general direction. Whether he showed it or not, Bakura was really very worried. _Where the hell is he?_

**Ryou's Pov**

_Why did he do that? He kissed me then rejected me. _Tears of anger and hurt welled up in the witch's eyes as he leaned against a wall in a dark alley. He had always felt more comfortable in the dark. _What bothers me the most is that I am so hurt by it? After all, my magic _was_ bound to me for some strange reason and the contact with him _did_ stop it, so why am I so hurt? I don't feel that way now do I? It's against the law. There's something wrong with me…I think…I think I love him. It is forbidden, but I do._

Two dark forms appeared at the entrance of the alley without the witch noticing. The two men spotted Ryou who was still immersed in thought.

"Hey beautiful," one of them called. "You wanna come out to play?"

Ryou snapped out of his reverie with a horrified shock_. No one would let this happen in broad daylight now would they? _As he thought this, the two men slowly advanced toward him. Their victim was cornered and they knew that they could take their time.

For every step that they took towards him, the witch took one back. It went on like this for a few minutes until Ryou took his final step. His back hit the wall. The white-haired teen knew exactly what would happen if this continued. The two thugs would threaten him in a way that his magic would deem threatening to his life, and then it would lash out at him. In situation like this, magic users couldn't control their magic if their life depended on it, for the magic would disobey them; laws be damned.

"Please stay away from me," he said calmly.

"And why would we do that?" thug number two asked smirking predatorily.

"I-I don't want to hurt you," Ryou said. This time the fear was evident not only in his eyes, but his voice as well. "Don't make me. Please." The thugs disregarded the witch's warnings and pleas.

"We aren't going to leave a beautiful creature like you all by your lonesome now would we Carl?" thug number one said. The other man shook his head and grinned hungrily as Ryou felt the man's eyes rake up and down his body.

The man named Carl was finally close enough to reach out and trace the witch's jawline. "I warned you," Ryou whimpered as his body began to glow that eerie blue that signaled his magic was activating as it saw a threat to its host.

The thugs backed away in fear. As the magic shot towards them, what had been fear became full out terror and they tried to run. Before they had gone more than half a step however, the magic pierced their backs. With a horrible scream that Ryou did not know that a human was capable of creating, Carl fell to the ground. His buddy, who was two steps ahead of him emitted a similar screech and also fell to the ground.

The witch collapsed to his knees before a crowd of onlookers that had gathered around him. "He's a witch," one woman said in amazement.

Ryou knew that there was no point in denying it. Even magic couldn't erase all of these people's memories. "Yes," he said with tears burning his eyes as he prepared to accept his fate. "I am."

**Deathbystorm: **I know that a lot of people are really pissed off for me doing that so I'm going to hide and leave Alex to wrap up.

**Alex:** Yeah so umm…review okay? Flames will be used to heat my hot chocolate. Ttfn!


	9. Chapter 9

**Deathbystorm: **I know I know. Everyone's pissed off because I left it so late but what're you gonna do about it?

**Alex:** I'm sorry. She hasn't had her medication yet and she is starting to have internet withdrawls. This being said, I'm doing the review replies today.

**Deathbystorm:** Only four reviews? Come on people, that's just pathetic.

**To yugirules: **I am very delighted that you find my fic to be something good to read.

**To YaoiFiendEm: **Sorry. I don't have a beta and I don't usually proofread my own work. In fact, I absolutely hate proofreading. Again, I am very sorry about that.

**To Kikyo's killer: **Yeah umm…I accidently crashed the internet so I couldn't update when I had this chappie written three days ago.

**To Ryou Lover 4235: **Well….you will just have to read and find out then. Ha!

Disclaimer: Thanks to some failed lawsuits, not only do I not own Harry Potter and co, I also am 3 million dollars in debt hehe…

Chapter 9

Bakura Pov 

The thief whipped around the moment he heard the scream. Somehow he knew that Ryou was in the direction where it came from. Not wanting to waste any time, he shoved his way through a croud of people and raced off down the street. He saw a croud of people surrounding someone off about half a block away.

Bakura willed himself to go even faster. Again he found himself shoving his way through a croud. "Ryou!" he gasped as he saw the boy fall to his knees and admit that he was a witch. He ran over to the teen and pulled him up. "Come on, I'm taking you back to the inn."

Before the crowd could react, Bakura had pushed his way through and was already running with Ryou's hand held securely in his.

The white-haired witch stumbled after the thief as they pushed farther on past the inn. "Can't let them know where it is," Bakura panted.

They pushed on harder until Ryou collapsed just outside of town with exhaustion. His friend was pulled down beside him. Bakura allowed him to rest for a few minutes before getting up and running again. They finally came to a stop just a kilometer into the forest.

"We'll stop here for the night and go back before the sunrises tomorrow morning," the thief said.

"I'll take first watch," Ryou responded. Neither of them however, got so much as a minute of sleep. The hours dragged on slowly.

Meanwhile back at Dragon Inn… 

Yugi paced around his room impatiently. "Where are they?" he muttered worriedly.

Yami got up from the chair that he was lounging around on and walked over to the amethyst-eyed teen. He put a hand on the smaller teen's shoulder "I'm sure that they're fine," the Storm-Bringer replied quietly. The Empath shuddered suddenly. "What is it?" Yami asked.

"I feel a lot of rage, fear and hatred nearby," Yugi replied and shuddered again.

The Storm-Bringer looked to the window from where they stood. "I hear a lot of shouting. Do you hear it?"

The yells were getting louder now. "Yes, I do," Yugi said and walked over to the window just in time to see Ryou and Bakura race by. "We have to do something."

"Yugi, we can't," Yami replied. "They'll think that your friends are the ones that are causing it. We could be risking all out war!"

The amethyst-eyed teen whipped around. "What is it now Yami?" he cried out. "When people with magic are burned at the stake for being evil. For being different than what those fools think that God intended us to be. What is it?"

With that, the Empath ran past his shocked friend and down out of the Inn. He slipped into the shadows nearby where the mob was now passing. Yugi closed his eyes and concentrated on that reaching out his mental tendrils until they were hooked inside each person. The amethyst-eyed teen concentrated on soothing the rage, hatred and fear in the souls of the people. They stopped dazed as they began to feel happiness and love instead.

Yugi hadn't banked on a second mob though. He frowned in confusion as the rage and hatred began to grow again. He couldn't seem to locate the source. The one thing that the Empath didn't notice was that the rage and hatred that he felt coming from a different direction began to magnify through him to the confused mob in front of him. They began shouting again. It was too late by the time that Yugi realized what had happened. The newly enraged crowd began to run after his two friends with new vigor.

_At least I bought them some time,_ Yugi thought unhappily as he detached his mental tendrils from the minds and souls of the mob as they ran. He went back into Dragon Inn as soon as the last of the large mob had passed.

Yami met him at the door. "What did you do?" he asked angrily. His crimson eyes flashed and began to glow. The sky outside began to glow ominously.

"I just calmed them down and then another crowd from the eastside of town…they had the same emotions and they went through me almost like a piece of glass in a beam of sunlight," Yugi said really fast. "I bought them some time though."

"And in doing that, you may have started a war," the Storm-Bringer said angrily. Cold wind began to whip past the Inn.

"Yami. Please calm down. You're going to start a storm if you're not careful," the Empath pleaded. _I don't want to manipulate him. I really don't. Now what else used to calm him down when we were younger…_As he thought this, a memory came to mind. It was in fact a memory of the day that they met.

Flashback 

_"Please don't hurt me," a small 7-year-old version of Yugi whimpered as the three largest children in his class surrounded him.. _

"_How did such a shrimp get in this school anyway?" the first one asked._

"_Yeah give us all your food before we pound you!" the second one continued._

_The third and largest of the group lifted up the very small boy up by his shirt collar and drew back his fist._

"_Put him down!" another voice called angrily. The bullies turned to see a young version of Yami stomp toward them._

"_And what if we don't?" the bully number three sneered._

_A young boy that looked almost identical to Yugi stepped right in front of the third one. "Then you will have me to deal with," he growled as best as a 7-year-old could. His crimson eyes began to glow dangerously and the air grew cold._

_The three bullies dropped Yugi and ran off terrified._

"_Thank you," the small Empath replied._

"_They don't deserve to live ganging up on someone like that," the crimson-eyed boy snarled angrily and the air grew colder still. _

_Yugi felt the anger in his own chest and knew what the boy who saved him was capable of as well as what he would do later. The little Empath did the one thing that he could think of. He came up to Yami and gave him a hug. "They're not worth it," he mumbled._

_The crimson-eyed boy returned the hug cautiously and then let go as the air warmed up to its original temperature._

"_My name's Yami. What's yours?" the young Storm-Bringer asked._

"_Yugi," the little amethyst-eyed teen replied. _

End Flashback 

That was what Yugi did now. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his oldest friend's waist. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

Yami calmed down and nodded. "Maybe they didn't notice," he said desperately.

Bakura's and Ryou's pov 

It was late into the night when they finally heard the citizens go back to their houses. Ryou relaxed against the thief in relief. They were sitting back to back to reduce the chances of getting snuck up on.

"We'll head back in about an hour," Bakura said looking up at the moon. He felt the witch nod in agreement. There was a rustling sound and a twig snapped. The thief whipped around and pulled Ryou up with him as he stood up. When no more sounds came, they cautiously sat down again.

It was just before dawn when the two friends dared to move again. Slowly, they crept back to town. At this pace, it took them an hour to get back to Dragon Inn. Ryou sighed in relief as he and Bakura entered their temporary home.

**General Pov**

It had been three days since Bakura and Ryou had returned to the Inn. There had been a huge uproar throughout the town about the two witches that had escaped. Ryou had begun to work in the kitchens to earn his, Bakura and Ryou's room. The thief himself had taken it upon himself to help also. He had taken Yami's position in the front of the Inn to welcome guests. (A/N Hah! As if! More like terrorize them.)

The door to the Inn opened. "Hi," Bakura said shortly. "How may I help you?"

"Hello," said the man who was panting hard. "I have to deliver this to the owner of this Inn."

"I'll take it to him right after my shift," the thief replied.

"I would rather that it reached him now," the runner said. "I have traveled a long way to deliver this message and it is important that Solomun Mouto receive it right now."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "My shift ends in half an hour. I'm sure you can wait that long. Now do you need a room or are you just passing through?"

"Just passing through," the man replied and took off out the door. The thief shrugged and hung around the front for the rest of his shift before going to find Solomun.

Bakura walked into Solomun's room without knocking. "Solomun. Some creepy little man left this letter for you," he announced as he stepped into the room.

"Oh I was expecting something like that," the old man replied.distractedly. "Just leave it here and I'll deal with it."

The thief did as he was told and went looking for Ryou who was getting off shift in about fifteen minutes. Bakura was already bored out of his mind at Dragon Inn. It was so peaceful and that was what made it so monotonous._ But there is one thing that never ceases to entertain me and I need to finally admit that I may have feelings of more than friendship towards him._

He leaned against the wall just outside the kitchens and waited patiently. He could here the laughter of the witch inside as well as the clatter of dishes.

"Yeah, I'll see you guys tomorrow," Ryou called as he walked out of the kitchens.

_Finally, _Bakura thought.

"Hey Bakura," the witch said quietly. "What're you doing here?"

"We need to talk," the thief replied quietly.

"What about?" came the innocent question.

"I'll tell you when we get back to our room," Bakura answered with a half smile half smirk. "But I really want to talk to you."

Ryou frowned. _What's going on? _He wondered. "Okay 'Kura I'll come with you." The witch smirked when he saw the deathglare the thief shot him when he used the nickname that he had come up with.

They walked back to their room. Bakura brushed hands with the other as he reached for the doorknob. Both jumped back with a shiver as a small shock went through each. _Man I've got it bad_ Bakura thought bluntly as he pulled the door closed behind them.

The thief gently pushed Ryou into a chair. "I think that this might come as a shock to you but I don't like you as a friend. I-I mean I like you as more than a friend," He babbled. The witch looked at him with an odd look on his face. Finally Bakura sighed exasperately. "Screw this," he muttered

The thief lifted Ryou's chin with one hand and crushed his lips against the other's. The witch froze before relaxing into the kiss and responding too before pulling gently away.

"I thought that you didn't like me in that way," Ryou breathed.

"Well you thought wrong," Bakura replied with a smirk.

**Deathbystorm: **Oh my god! It wasn't a cliffie! I think I'm gonna faint! Any way that was a _very _

boring chappie in my opinion. (Mostly because my internet died so I couldn't update and began to add stuff to it)

**Alex**: Might I remind you who disconnected the internet?

**Deathbystorm:** Hey! It doesn't count if you don't even know how you did it now does it?

**Alex: **It does so!

**Deathbystorm:** Does not!

**Alex:** Does too.

**Deathbystorm:** Does not.

**Alex:** While we are arguing, why don't you pay us a kindness and press the pretty purple button?


End file.
